Can people make shirk in the Messengership of the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi-wasallam)

Question:

Can people make in the Messengership of the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi-wasallam) shirk, please explain?

Answer:

Answer : The shaikh said concerning this issue many times we find that many of the people making shirk concerning the angels of Allah (subhanna wa ta ala)or the awliyyah or the righteous people. The reason they do that is because these angels are in an exulted station in the hearts of the people. So the ignorant people, what they do is they take these creations of Allah (subhanna wa ta ala) and they raise them higher then the place that Allah (subhanna wa ta ala) has raised them. But the correct thing is we ourselves should put them where Allah (subhanna wa ta ala) has put them, in their proper place. We love them more than we love our ownselves. Like the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi-wasallam), we love him more than we love our ownselves , more then we love our children, more than we love our money. We make the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi-wasallam) formost in our love and our minds. The shaikh said we respect him, but in doing this we do not attribute the special characteristics that are only for Allah (subhanna wa ta ala).

He said why, why ? The reason for this is that Allah (subhanna wa ta ala) is the one who sent the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi-wasallam) and the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi-wasallam) told us not to raise him higher than his ownself . One time some of the sahaba came to the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi-wasallam) and they said, “Ya Rasoolullah, ya khairoona, ya khairanna, ya sayidanna.”

“Oh Messenger of Allah, oh the best of us, oh our master.”

So the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi-wasallam) on hearing that the people were saying this or having this ghuloo /exaggeration said do not say all of what you are saying, say some of it but do not say all of it. Do not let the shaitan trick you people, say that “I am the Messenger of Allah only.” In another authentic hadeeth that has been collected by Imaam Muslim, he said to his companions and he said to us, “Do not exaggerate me as the Christians exaggerated in the son of Mariam (radia allahu anha), but say that I am Abdullah and the Messenger of Allah.” So the shaikh went on to say, therefore Allah (subhanna wa ta ala) described the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi-wasallam) to be an abd or a slave in the Qur’an. When he did so he did it to honour the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi-wasallam) with this description and all you have to do is read the Qur’an when Allah (subhanna wa ta ala) said,

“Glory be unto Allah who took his abd from Masjid al Haram to Masjid al Aqsa that we bless everything around it.”

So the point here is that Allah (subhaanahu wa ta`aalaa)who honoured his Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi-wasallam) honoured him by calling him the slave, and the servant here. Also the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi-wasallam) told us to say in our tashahud, when we are making salah to say, “Ashadu anna laillaha illallah wa ashadu anna Muhammed dur Rasool Allah.”

That we should bear witness to this kalama /testimony of faith, he said the sahabas did not say in their tashahud and “I bear witness that Muhammed is our sayyid ….. wa ashadu anna Muhammed sayyid anna.”

That the sahabas did not say this. So it becomes imperative that we also do not say this even though we respect that the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi-wasallam), yes he is our master and we should follow what he taught us and only what he taught us. So therefore, if a person was to say in his tashahud, what they are saying that Muhammed is our sayyid as well then he has gone against the sunnah and he has gone against the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi-wasallam) and on top of that he has claimed that by doing this thing that he is better than the sahaba because they did not say this and they did not do this thing.